Air mixer cabinet grill panel



June 15, 1954 J. M. REDMOND, JR

' AIR MIXER CABINET GRILL PANEL Filed Nov. 17, 1950 Q a IINVENTORJfl m @u AT T 0RNE Y5.

Patented June 15, 1954 AIR MIXER CABINET GRILL PANEL John M. Redmond, Jr.,

to The Coleman Comp Wichita, Kans, assignor a corporation of Kansas Application November 17, 1950, Serial No. 196,247

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to an air mixer cabinet grill panel. The invention is particularly useful in connection with a panel or shell portion forming one face of the cabinet.

In a forced air heating system it is desired to pass highly heated air through a small conduit to an air mixer cabinet which may be installed within a room, and preferably within a wall of a room, the pipe discharging into the cabinet adjacent an inlet port of the cabinet so that room air is drawn into the cabinet for admixture with the heated air, the mixed air being finally dis-. charged from the other end of the cabinet through an outlet port. Vane-equipped grills are secured within each of the ports. The foregoing system of heating is described in detail in the copending applications of Jack W. Kice, Serial Nos. 760,572 and 760,573, both filed July 12, 1947, both of which are now abandoned.

The attachment of separate grills to th outlet and inlet ports of the cabinet casing is unsatisfactory in that it requires a double thickness of metal within the ports, producing somewhat irregular cracks or spaces through which air is discharged, while at the same time the weight and expense of the structure are substantially increased.

I have discovered that the above difficulties can be overcome by employing a single panel or one piece front face for the cabinet in which the vanes at the spaced ports are formed integrally with the panel or face. I have further discovered that the vanes are formed with a minimum of projection beyond the cabinet face and in a very sturdy structure by anchoring reenforcing strips to the panel body and to edges of the vanes, as will be described more fully hereinafter.

An object of the present invention is to provide a unitary panel or face structure for an air mixer cabinet, the vanes being formed integrally with the panel or face. A further object is to provide a unique method for forming vanes within a panel for the securing of a sturdy structure and with a minimum of projection of the vanes beyond the face of the panel. Yet another object is to provide an elongated panel or face structure equipped with integral vanes near its end portions. Other specific objects and advan tages will appear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is shown in an illustrated embodiment, by the accompanying drawing, in I which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet secured within a wall and equipped with panels any,

1110., Wichita, Kans.,

or cabinet faces embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a broken front View in elevation of the panel or cabinet face; Fig. 3, a sectional View, the section being taken as indicated at line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and Pig. 4, an enlarged broken sectional view showing a portion of the vanes integrally formed with the panel.

In the illustration given, It designates a panel or shell section or one-piece cabinet face. In Fig. i, there are two of such panels or cabinet faces disposed on opposite sides of a centrally disposed shell I I. The shell l together with the panels it forms a complete enclosur and thus provides a chamber in which air may be mixed. Heated air from a furnace or other source of heated air is passed through a small pipe l 2 and discharged within the cabinet provided by members ii] and 5! beyond one of the ports of the cabinet. This causes room air to be drawn into the cabinet where it is mixed with the highly heated air and the resulting mixture is discharged through the outlet port of the cabine In the specific illustration given, the inlet port of the cabinet is designated by the numeral I3, while the outlet port is designated by the numeral Hi. It will be understood, however, that the hot air pipe l2 may be extended through the other end of the cabinet so as to discharge air adjacent the port [4 so that it would then become the inlet port and port I3 would become the outlet port. Such structures are illustrated in the abovementioned copending Kice applications Serial Nos. 760,572 and 760,573.

The panel it, which is adapted to be secured over one face or side of the shell l l, is preferably formed as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4. Each of the ports is provided by forming vanes is integrally with the panel It so that the entire panel equipped with the vanes consists of a single piece. In forming the vanes, I prefer to split the panel so as to provide the connecting neck l 6 between the vane and the panel It at a point near the outer portion of the vane, as shown more clearly in Fig. That is to say, the panel it is split or severed near the ends thereof along a plurality of spacedapart parallel lines extending transversely of the panel and terminating at their outer ends on lines extending longitudinally of the panel. Along the longitudinal lines defining the ends of the vanes 5 the panel is also severed but the lines of severance are interrupted to provide the necks it. The longtiudinal severances extend from the innermost transverse severance or line to a point close to the parallel line next thereto, and then successively from the next inner line to a point close to the following line, and so on. The panel portion provided by the lines of severance are then turned rearwardly and twist about the integral necks l6. The outer or forward edges of the vanes are substantially flush with the surface of the panel because the necks it are adjacent the forward or outer edges of the vanes. At the same time, I turn rearwardly an upper portion of the panel to provide a supporting ledge II, as shown more clearly in Fig. 3. The rearwardlyturned edges of the vanes i5 are then secured together and reenforced by the vertical strips [3, which are preferably welded or otherwise secured to the top flange or ledge ll. By anchoring the strips 13 to the rear edges or the vanes 15 and to the rigid ledge H, a sturdy reenforcement is provided for the vanes so that they are held in true alignment while, at the same time, the front edge of the vanes is almost flush with or projects very slightly beyondthe face of the panel. Anymeans, such as Welding, brazing, soldering, etc. which will efiectively secure the rear edges of the vanes to the reenforcing strips l2, while at the same time anchoring such strips to the rigid ledge 11 of the panel, may be employed.

In the assembly operation, after the shell 1 I is secured within a wall, the panels I0 may be secured on either side of the wall so as to. cause the room air to enter the central shell from oppositely disposed rooms and the mixed air may be simultaneously discharged from the upper end of the shell through the outlet ports I l into both rooms. If desired, only one panel may be employed and the opposite side of the shell l0 may be closed by an imperforate metal strip. By employing a panel or closure shell Hi provided with integrallyspaced grills, the full port area may be effectively employed, while a minimum of metal is utilized. Further, noise that usually attends the use of attached parts such as grills, etc. is avoided through the forming of the integral grill in the panel 10. Even though the grill vanes are pro vided by striking metal from the panel itself, an extremely sturdy grill structure is provided by securing each edge of the rearwardly-extending vane to a rigid flange of the panel, as above described.

In the specific illustration given, the shell which is shown within the wall space provided between the wall sections A and B, as shown more clearly in Fig. 1, and the panels or outer shell members 10 engage the outer sides of the wall sections A and B and provide closures for the open sides of shell 1 I. It Will be understood, however, that the air mixer cabinet may be installed within a room and not within a wall recess.

While in the foregoing specification I have set forth a specific structure in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating an embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that such details of structure may be varied widely by those skilled in the'art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

In a relatively thin-walled air mixer cabinet having in one wall thereof an elongated inlet port and spaced therefrom an elongated outlet port, each of said ports having a plurality of spacedapart elongated vanes extending transversely thereacross and providing openings therebetween, the vanes in each of said ports being substantially parallel and having outer longitudinal edges substantially flush with the face of said wall, and neck portions integral with said wall and with said vanes at each end of said vanes and adjacent the outer longitudinal edges therecf to provide a connection between said vanes and said wall, the ends of each vane adjacent the longitudinal edges thereof being spaced from said wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 748,669 Valentine Jan. 5, 1904 1,482,915 Dolezal Feb. 5, 1924 1,717,327 Sponar June 11, 1929 2,118,282 Will May 24, 1938 2,148,001 Vultorius Feb. 21, 1939 2,222,081 Leigh Nov. 19, 1940 2,282,946 De R00 May 12, 1942 2,284,138 Evans et a1. May 26, 1942 2,516,358 Young July 25, 1950 

